U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,312 discloses a hybrid system comprised of a fuel cell and a superconducting magnetic energy storage system (“SMES”). In the process of this patent, energy was transferred from the SMES to the fuel cell, and/or from the fuel cell to the SMES.
The device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,312 is adapted to store current in the SMES. However, such device is not readily adapted to store charge.
The United States is currently at war. Its soldiers carry many electrical assemblies, including, e.g., transceivers, night-vision devices, range finders, meters, guidance systems, etc. Of necessity, the electrical devices carried by the soldiers are powered by mobile power sources, the most common of which is a battery. It has been estimated that the weight of such batteries in many cases exceeds 40 percent of the weight of all the gear carried by a soldier.
Batteries have finite lives. Even before they are completely discharged, however, they often decline in power to a level at which they are no longer useful. At this stage, they are often discarded and replaced with a spare battery that also must be carried by the soldier.
It is an object of this invention to provide a process for scavenging the remaining energy in a battery to another, rechargeable battery. It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for effectuating such process.